Tuesday, December 25th, 2012
Trinity Anglican Church, Bradford, ON
The Rev. Daniel F. Graves
Text: John 1:1-14
Although the powers of darkness would seek to overcome and
destroy us, they can never be the final word for us.
When we cast our minds back over the course of our lives, I
think many of us will realize that there are things we have done, and left
undone, for which we are not proud. All
too often, these mistakes become for us the narratives that shape our
lives. Our mistakes and our sins have
the potential to become the word of our lives, but the message of today is that
even our grossest deeds, our most careless errors, and even our most malicious
mistakes need not be the final word for us.
Christmas can be a difficult time for many because the pain
of a recent – or even not-so-recent – loss may feel overwhelming. When so many are making merry, the gap left
by a loved one who is no longer with us, and the sorrow we feel, may feel like
the word that is written upon our lives, but it need not be the final word for
us.
In the midst of the great brokenness of this world, amidst
senseless violence like the recent shooting in Connecticut, amidst accidents
and unforeseen losses, imagining that the world is so irretrievably lost that
only a 2012 Armageddon that will wipe things out may seem like the only word
for a helplessly hurting world, but it need not be the final word for us.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and
the Word was God!
The only word that truly matters to us, the only word that
really has a hold on our lives, the only word that is of any true substance is
Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who was in the beginning with God and through
whom all things were created. This is the
only word that matters because all things came into being through him. Not one thing that was created came into
being without him. All other words that seek to have a claim on us ultimately
have not power or claim over us, for they are not the source of either our
being, or our Salvation. They are not
the light of life. The very Word that gives
us life and light is the Word that is written upon our hearts and upon our very
being, and should any other word seek to erase or deface that word, that word
shall not stand.
We can fail to see the Word because the darkness is often so
overwhelming that our vision is obscured, and that is why the Word became flesh. When the world seemed too dark, when other
words seemed to echo in our ears and garble our thoughts, the Word became
flesh.
The Word becomes flesh and casts away the other words that
seek to imprint themselves on our lives.
The light shines in the darkness, and although the darkness seeks to
overcome the light it cannot. The light
casts out the darkness.
Darkness still covers the earth but we have a light that
forces it back. Other words still seek
to write themselves into our story, but we have a Word that is our story, and
no other words shall take his place.
Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, is God’s final word for
us. Jesus Christ is the light of the world,
and although at times the darkness seems powerful, and those other words seem
multitudinous, Jesus is written on our hearts and indeed, he is the light which
shines forth from our new life in him.
By his grace, by water and the Spirit, we are a new creation and so we
need not fear any other word or be threatened by the darkness. If God is for
us, who can be against us?
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